Question

9. Blood glucose must be tightly regulated by hormones to protect the body from tissue damage, coma, and death. Please explain how insulin and glucagon regulate blood sugar.

10. Why are the bran and germ of a whole grain important for a healthy diet? What is wrong with only eating the endosperm in refined grains like white bread?

11

Healthy Fats:

Unhealthy Fats:

Contribution to inflammation:

Contribution to inflammation:

Food Sources:

Food Sources:

12. HDL and LDL cholesterol impact Cardiovascular Disease. Please explain which is considered “good” and which is considered “bad” and how they impact disease.

Answer 1

9 . Insulin produced by the beta cells of pancreas reduces the blood sugar levels and helps the cells to absorb the glucose which are vital source of energy. While , glucagon is the hormone produced by the alpha cells of the pancreas which stimulates the glycogen stored in the liver to get converted into glucose rising the blood sugar levels. When there is hypoglycaemia, our body stops producing insulin and instead produces glucagon which rises blood sugar levels and vice versa. Therefore, the combination of these two hormones helps in glucose regulation in our body.

10. The bran and germ of a whole grain contains fibre, vitamin B , small amounts of protein, iron which are essential to our body. Refining of grains removes all the nutrients and thus white bread which is devoid of fibre and nutrients is unhealthy choice.

11 and 12.  Healthy fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which are good for heart health and do not contribute to inflammation which may lead to heart diseases. They are rich source of high density lipoprotein( HDL) which prevents atherosclerosis, reduces blood pressure, etc.

Food sources : Almonds, avocado,olive,peanuts,flaxseed,walnuts.

Unhealthy fats also called bad fats are rich in saturated fats which contains low density lipoprotein(LDL) which may lead to inflammation causing atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and sugar levels causing heart disorders.

Example : Fried foods, packed foods , pastries, cookies, doughnuts, pizza, chips.

Thank you.